Constitution Implementation Concerns

Sunni politicians may have issued a clear rejection of the new constitution, but even amongst those groups who back it there are significant concerns.

Sunnis interviewed by IWPR said they rejected the draft constitution, approved by the National Assembly on Auguts 28, because it advocates federalism, which they fear will divide Iraq, and bans Baathism, the political ideology so many of them subscribed to.

Sunni lawmakers also opposed these provisions, but the Shia and Kurdish lawmakers who largely wrote and approved the constitution decided to go ahead with the vote on the constitution without the Sunnis.

After a one-week extension for submitting the draft to the parliament on August 22 and several delays on voting on the charter, Shia and Kurdish parliamentarians said they could no longer wait for Sunnis to accept federalism.

Iraqis will have the chance to vote on the constitution during a referendum on October 15. The charter will fail if two-thirds of voters in three out of Iraq’s 18 governorates reject it.

"This constitution, in which we find obvious sectarianism, won't succeed," said Abdul-Razaq al-Inizi, a 57-year-old Sunni merchant in Baghdad.

Ziyad al-Alwani, a 30-year-old Sunni driver in Baghdad, said he won’t agree to anything that divides Iraq, referring to federalism, and he is ready to defend the country against it.

"And the Baath issue should not be made explicit since it was a phase of the past that has now gone,” he said. “It should not be focused on."

Although many Shia support the constitution, followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have signaled their opposition. Al-Sadr opposes federalism and has dismissed the constitution as the work of Americans.

Ahmed al-Saidi, a 32-year-old Shia supermarket owner in Sadr City, the Baghdad suburb that is one of Muqtada’s strongholds, said the Kurds got the most out of the constitution by maintaining their already established semi-autonomous entity in the north and having Arabic and Kurdish recognised as the two official languages of the country.

"If we are living in one country, then why should we use two languages? And if there is federalism in the north, there should be federalism in the south and middle, or else it should all be cancelled,” he said.

Other Iraqis were more optimistic that the constitution will usher in a new era for Iraq.

Abdul-Jalil Hadi, 50, said he finds the general framework of the constitution acceptable, but he feels the details are a bit ambiguous and need more explanation.

"I'm glad the constitution has been drafted and, God willing, we will win the endorsement of majority of Iraqis," said Hadi, a Baghdad resident.

Other Shias in the south and Kurds in the north said they were generally pleased with the charter, although they still expressed some reservations.

Jafar Yasin, a 35-year-old Shia from Amarah, said he hoped approval of the constitution would signal the departure of Coalition forces.

“We hope a consensus can be reached and approved by the public, so that Iraqis can take charge and the foreigners leave,” he said.

Haydar Musa, a 34-year-old Shia from the same town, said the public needs to be cautious as the government may not fully implement the constitution’s provisions. “But [its] wording looks transparent and clear and raises our hopes," he said.

Kurds are generally satisfied with the latest wording of the draft but are also concerned about the extent to which the constitution will be implemented.

"This constitution contains many positive points,” said Sara Qadir Mohammed, a 24-year-old journalist in Sulaimaniyah. “But the important point is how it's going to be applied, as it contains some elastic points that you can interpret according to your views."

Rebin Hardi, a Kurdish writer in Sulaimaniyah, agreed, although he conceded that the drafting of the constitution is the first step toward building democracy. He added that all political groups had to make concessions, including the Kurds, who lost their bid to include self-determination in the constitution.

“But we won other rights,” he said. “Still, in practical terms, to what extent will this constitution be respected?"

Duraed Salman, Nameer Hussein al-Rubaie and Ferhad Mahmood are IWPR trainees.